Oliver campaign 'prompts rise in demand for school meals'

Jamie Oliver's school dinner campaign has been proved a success, after it was revealed that demand for meals has risen.

According to the School Food Trust, 320,980 more children are eating school dinners now than in the 2008/09 academic year.

In primary schools, approximately 41.4 per cent of youngsters enjoy a healthy meal at lunch.

Rob Rees, chair of the School Food Trust, said numbers were dwindling before celebrity chef Jamie Oliver publicised the fact that many children were being fed unhealthy food at school.

"Now, following the introduction of national standards for meals and the hard work to improve the dining room experience for children, this is being reversed  disproving the myth that children simply don't want to eat healthy food," he commented.

New health secretary Andrew Lansley came in for criticism last week when he suggested that Oliver's school dinner campaign had encouraged more children to buy their own unhealthy lunches, rather than eat the healthy meals prepared for them.